A tense air rippled through the surrounding crowd.
Bluitt had directed an irritated glare at Azel's words.
Bluitt, who walked around town without so much as an escort, could safely be called a heretic among nobles.
Naturally, when a man with Bluitt's build strode through the streets, getting caught up in fights was not uncommon.
Even if he had no such intention himself, there were always those who took offense at his pompous—or, to put it another way, supremely confident—attitude. And Bluitt was hardly the type to back down when someone picked a fight with him. If anything, he was known to go looking for trouble on his own.
So when someone openly challenged him like this, he would take the bait without a second thought.
...That, too, was probably one of the reasons he was considered a heretic among nobles.
"Hey? Why can't I go to Count Fanlair's territory? It's not like it's a hostile faction or anything. Shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Bluitt. You're the next count, aren't you? If someone in your position were to die on my lands, what do you think would happen? At the very least, I certainly couldn't carry on amicably with the person who might have killed my successor."
It was hardly uncommon for nobles to harbor thoughts entirely at odds with their public faces.
But even so, it was a safe bet that no one could maintain friendly relations with the person who had killed their successor—especially their own flesh-and-blood son.
Given the high likelihood of that outcome, it was only natural that Count Fanlair would not welcome Bluitt's visit.
Then again, if Bluitt were traveling to an ordinary village or town, it wouldn't be much of an issue.
But what Bluitt was hoping for was a town near a forest teeming with monsters, one frequented by large numbers of adventurers.
In a place like that, the odds of running into trouble were naturally far higher than in a normal town, and the nature of that trouble was unquestionably more dangerous.
That was the implication behind Azel's words.
Hearing this, Bluitt thought for a moment... and eventually let out a heavy sigh.
"Tch, fiiine. It's not like I want to pick fights with just anyone, you know. My remark was reckless."
Huh, Rei thought.
Watching that unfold, Rei raised his assessment of Bluitt by a notch.
Even among nobles—no, precisely because he was a noble—openly admitting to a mistake was something most could rarely bring themselves to do, given the matter of face.
But Bluitt had done it without a second thought.
Purely as noble conduct, it might have been questionable, but from Rei's perspective, Bluitt's attitude was more than enough to win his approval.
Rei's assessment of Bluitt was already high, but this raised it another level.
Azel also seemed slightly caught off guard by Bluitt's words, but he eventually smiled and nodded in understanding.
"I'm glad you understand. I'd rather not see unnecessary conflict brought into the Noble's Faction."
"Yeah, it was reckless of me to speak without thinking, as usual. ...Still, in that sense, I'm jealous of Lady Elena."
"Hm? Me?"
Elena, who had been quietly observing the exchange without interjecting, tilted her head at Bluitt's remark.
That simple motion alone sent her golden hair shimmering in the light of the Magic Items illuminating the party venue, drawing the gazes of Bluitt and the others.
That they managed to snap back to themselves so quickly was probably because they had all seen Elena at parties before.
Though, perhaps due to Rei's presence, today she was shining even more brightly than usual.
"Y-yeah. Lady Elena is the same as me... no, to the Noble's Faction she's even more important than I am, right? But unlike me, she can go wherever she pleases."
"Hmm. Now that you mention it, that's true. But that is only because I happen to hold such a grandiose title as the Princess General. If you want to stand in the same position, Bluitt, you'd need to distinguish yourself on a battlefield or the like and become an Alias Holder yourself."
"...Except there aren't any battlefields anymore."
Up until a few years ago, wars with the Bestia Empire had been a frequent occurrence.
Granted, most were on the scale of skirmishes, but in the large-scale war that took place several years ago, the Bestia Empire suffered devastating losses.
Afterward, a civil war erupted within the Empire as well, and ultimately, the faction now holding the reins of power was what could be described as the Pro-Kingdom of Mireana Faction.
Though in truth, it wasn't so much that they genuinely felt affection toward the Kingdom of Mireana. The larger factor was that the person their beloved older sister served—Rei—lived there.
(Well, the prince aside, the fact that the Emperor is quietly playing nice with the Kingdom of Mireana is a bit surprising.)
Bluitt's words brought to mind the image of the Bestia Empire Emperor Rei had met before.
One only needed to look at the man to understand he possessed a dominating, vigorous personality.
Yet that same person had begun to hold back from waging war against the Kingdom of Mireana, even if it was by his successor's will.
The Bestia Empire was a great power on par with the Kingdom of Mireana, but it had one critical weakness: it had no access to the sea.
That was precisely why they had continuously provoked wars for so long, seeking to claim the ports the Kingdom of Mireana possessed.
Considering all that, it was hard for even Rei to believe the Emperor was quietly backing down.
"If you wish to earn an alias, aside from wars with the Bestia Empire, there are other paths. Large-scale bandit subjugation, confronting monster stampedes, or repeatedly challenging and defeating formidable opponents in mock battles—any of those would do, yes?"
So saying, someone else once again cut into their conversation.
All eyes turned toward the voice, where an old woman stood.
Naturally, Rei didn't know who this old woman was... or rather, unusually enough, he actually did.
That was because she was one of the figures who wielded immense influence within the Noble's Faction.
In that regard, the effort of having Miranda brief him on several key nobles—even if it was only a crash course—had paid off.
Of course, this was a world without things like photographs or video cameras.
Well, such things might exist among Magic Items, but there was no way Miranda, hailing from a poor baron family and not even the heir, could have gotten her hands on anything like that. So unless it was a highly distinctive figure—such as the rare sight of an old woman—he wouldn't have been able to identify them on the spot.
The reason Rei hadn't immediately recognized Zaskal, the head of Marquis Seisole's House, when they first met face to face was for precisely that reason.
Above all, that distinctive speech pattern was impossible to mistake.
"You're Duke Fulundar, correct? I'm the adventurer Rei. A pleasure."
"Foh foh foh. You seem far more polite than the rumors suggest. I am Remuria, head of the Duke Fulundar family. I look forward to your acquaintance."
Remuria floated an amused smile as she said this.
Duke Fulundar.
That was the name of a noble who wielded particularly formidable influence even within the Noble's Faction.
To begin with, in the Kingdom of Mireana, the highest rank a noble could hold was duke—a position in which no one could issue orders to them save for the King himself, the sole exception.
...In reality, it wasn't quite that simple, but the fact remained that they stood near the pinnacle of the Kingdom of Mireana.
What made Remuria so distinctive in that position was that, despite being somewhere in her seventies or perhaps eighties, she still served as the head of the Duke Fulundar family.
The duties of a family head were demanding, and it was generally the norm to pass the title on to one's successor by one's fifties, if not earlier.
But the Duke Fulundar family was still led by the old woman Remuria.
(I heard from Miranda that there was all sorts of infighting within the family, and as a result this old woman—Remuria—was still serving as head... but now I'm actually kind of curious what kind of uproar must have happened.)
Rei had heard the general circumstances from Miranda, but not the specific reasons behind the feud.
There had been plenty else to memorize, and more importantly, he'd never been able to muster much interest in nobles. That sort of information had simply gone in one ear and out the other.
"Still... aren't you a bit too hot-blooded?"
The gaze Remuria fixed on Bluitt carried deep exasperation.
For Remuria, who had lived as a noble for many long years, Bluitt's words expressing a desire for battle made her furrow her brow.
Bluitt, on the receiving end of that look, couldn't reflexively pick a fight the way he had with Azel. Instead, he scratched his head and tried to play it off.
With Remuria, it wasn't just her ducal rank that was the issue—it was, above all, her age.
If Bluitt were to do something like grab hold of her right here, there was a very real chance she could die from that alone.
Hot-blooded as Bluitt was by nature, it was impossible to imagine him ever wanting to do something that might kill an old woman.
"No, but still. You'd admire Alias Holders and that sort of thing, right? It's got nothing to do with being a noble. Plus, if I became an Alias Holder, nobody could complain about me going out on my own, right?"
"...That's right. There's no mistaking that. But do you have any idea just how few people actually manage to earn such an alias, hmmm?"
Rei found her sentence endings slightly curious, but what Remuria was saying was by no means wrong.
Those who aspired to become Alias Holders existed in countless numbers.
Among those who had just become adventurers, almost all of them would at some point dream of earning an alias themselves.
But out of all those hopefuls, only a mere handful ever succeeded.
No—fewer than a handful.
It wasn't as though everyone who aspired to become an Alias Holder ended up dead, but there were certainly more than a few who lost their lives doing something reckless or pushing themselves too far in pursuit of that goal.
Remuria most likely didn't want to see Bluitt die that way.
But the more hot-blooded a young man was, the more firmly he convinced himself that he would be the exception.
The current Bluitt was no different; he simply could not grasp Remuria's feelings.
Still, he seemed to understand that dismissing her concern outright would be rude.
Doing his best to deflect, he spoke up.
"Ah, well, you see. I don't plan on doing anything reckless, so don't worry. Besides, I'm pretty confident in my own skills."
"Foh foh foh. I've heard that much by rumor as well. But if you push yourself too hard and wind up dead, what's the point, yes?"
"Yeah, I'll be as careful as I can."
So Bluitt declared, but whether he would truly be careful was an open question in Rei's mind.
They were probably just words to smooth things over.
Then again, Rei had no intention of lecturing Bluitt over it.
Bluitt was not the kind of person who needed Rei to hold his hand.
Since he was already acting on his own judgment, if anything happened, it would be on him.
...Though, even from Rei's perspective, he could tell that Bluitt possessed considerable strength, so he doubted anything would happen that easily.
(Besides, if something did happen, I'd probably help him out.)
To Rei, Bluitt was a rare noble he actually liked.
That was why, if Bluitt ever reached out for help, Rei would answer.
Of course, Bluitt also had his pride. He wouldn't come asking Rei for help easily, and if he ever did, it would only be when things were truly desperate.
"Very well then. Do be careful, yes?"
Whether Remuria was satisfied that Bluitt had seen reason, Rei couldn't say, but since Bluitt had at least promised to be careful, she showed no sign of pressing the matter further.
"Now then, with that out of the way. The reason I approached you all like this... it does concern that young man over there, but more importantly, I have a small request for you, yes."
So saying, Remuria turned her gaze toward... exactly who Rei expected.
Himself.